Asynchronous mirror consistency audit

ABSTRACT

A method for auditing data consistency in an asynchronous data replication environment is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes copying, at a primary storage system, a primary data track and recording a time that the primary data track was copied. The method replicates the primary data track and associated time from the primary storage system to a secondary storage system. The method applies, to a corresponding secondary data track at the secondary storage system, all updates received for the secondary data track that have a timestamp prior to the time. The method then reads the secondary data track at the secondary storage system after the updates have been applied, and compares the secondary data track to the primary data track. If the secondary data track does not match the primary data track, the method records an error. A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to systems and methods for auditing and correcting data inconsistencies in data replication systems.

Background of the Invention

In z/OS Global Mirror, data is asynchronously mirrored from a primary storage system to a secondary storage system in order to maintain two consistent copies of data. The primary and secondary storage systems may be located at different sites, perhaps hundreds or thousands of miles away from one another. In the event the primary storage system fails, I/O may be redirected to the secondary storage system, thereby enabling continuous operations.

When updates are received at the primary storage system, z/OS Global Mirror groups the updates into record sets and collects these record sets into data structures referred to as “sidefiles.” These sidefiles are stored in cache at the primary storage system. The record sets in these sidefiles are then asynchronously mirrored to the secondary storage system using data replication software (also known as System Data Mover, or SDM, in the z/OS environment) which is typically (but not necessarily) hosted on a secondary host system.

Currently, when asynchronously mirroring data from a source volume to a target volume, it is very difficult to determine if there are inconsistencies in the mirrored data. When an error such as a No Record Found (NRF) or Invalid Track Format (ITF) error occurs at the target volume, the mirroring relationship is typically suspended and data in the source volume is recopied to the target volume. The mirroring relationship between the source volume and target volume may then be reestablished. If an error is detected long after an out-of-sync condition occurs, it may be difficult to diagnose the cause of the error. Currently, the only option to validate the consistency of mirrored data is to compare, track by track, the source and target volumes. This creates significant overhead and may result in false errors when updates to the target volume are in flight.

In view of the foregoing, what are needed are systems and methods to more effectively audit data consistency across source and target volumes in asynchronous data replication environments. Further needed are systems and methods to more efficiently correct errors in consistency when discovered.

SUMMARY

The invention has been developed in response to the present state of the art and, in particular, in response to the problems and needs in the art that have not yet been fully solved by currently available systems and methods. Accordingly, the invention has been developed to provide systems and methods for auditing data consistency in an asynchronous data replication environment. The features and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

Consistent with the foregoing, a method for auditing data consistency in an asynchronous data replication environment is disclosed. In one embodiment, such a method includes copying, at a primary storage system, a primary data track and recording a time that the primary data track was copied. The method replicates the primary data track and associated time from the primary storage system to a secondary storage system. The method applies, to a corresponding secondary data track at the secondary storage system, all updates received for the secondary data track that have a timestamp prior to the time. The method then reads the secondary data track at the secondary storage system after the updates have been applied, and compares the secondary data track to the primary data track. In the event the secondary data track does not match the primary data track, the method records an error.

A corresponding system and computer program product are also disclosed and claimed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered limiting of its scope, the embodiments of the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram showing one example of a network environment in which systems and methods in accordance with the invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a high-level block diagram showing one example of a storage system that may function as a primary or secondary storage system in an asynchronous data replication system;

FIG. 3 is a high-level block diagram showing how an asynchronous data replication may use sidefiles to asynchronously mirror data from a primary storage system to a secondary storage system;

FIG. 4 is a high-level block diagram showing a data replication module and various sub-modules that may be used to implement various aspects of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a high-level block diagram showing how record sets may be processed in sidefiles;

FIG. 6 is a high-level block diagram showing a new type of record set for use in auditing and/or correcting data consistency;

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram showing one embodiment of a method for auditing data consistency across source and target volumes; and

FIG. 8 is a process flow diagram showing one embodiment of a method for correcting data inconsistency across source and target volumes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the present invention, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, as represented in the Figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of certain examples of presently contemplated embodiments in accordance with the invention. The presently described embodiments will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout.

The present invention may be embodied as a system, method, and/or computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium may be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.

The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on a user's computer, partly on a user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on a user's computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, a remote computer may be connected to a user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Referring to FIG. 1, one example of a network environment 100 is illustrated. The network environment 100 is presented to show one example of an environment where systems and methods in accordance with the invention may be implemented. The network environment 100 is presented only by way of example and not limitation. Indeed, the systems and methods disclosed herein may be applicable to a wide variety of different network environments, in addition to the network environment 100 shown.

As shown, the network environment 100 includes one or more computers 102, 106 interconnected by a network 104. The network 104 may include, for example, a local-area-network (LAN) 104, a wide-area-network (WAN) 104, the Internet 104, an intranet 104, or the like. In certain embodiments, the computers 102, 106 may include both client computers 102 and server computers 106 (also referred to herein as “host systems” 106). In general, the client computers 102 initiate communication sessions, whereas the server computers 106 wait for requests from the client computers 102. In certain embodiments, the computers 102 and/or servers 106 may connect to one or more internal or external direct-attached storage systems 109 (e.g., arrays of hard-disk drives, solid-state drives, tape drives, etc.). These computers 102, 106 and direct-attached storage systems 109 may communicate using protocols such as ATA, SATA, SCSI, SAS, Fibre Channel, or the like.

The network environment 100 may, in certain embodiments, include a storage network 108 behind the servers 106, such as a storage-area-network (SAN) 108 or a LAN 108 (e.g., when using network-attached storage). This network 108 may connect the servers 106 to one or more storage systems, such as arrays 110 of hard-disk drives or solid-state drives, tape libraries 112, individual hard-disk drives 114 or solid-state drives 114, tape drives 116, CD-ROM libraries, or the like. To access a storage system 110, 112, 114, 116, a host system 106 may communicate over physical connections from one or more ports on the host 106 to one or more ports on the storage system 110, 112, 114, 116. A connection may be through a switch, fabric, direct connection, or the like. In certain embodiments, the servers 106 and storage systems 110, 112, 114, 116 may communicate using a networking standard such as Fibre Channel (FC).

Referring to FIG. 2, one embodiment of a storage system 110 containing an array of hard-disk drives 204 and/or solid-state drives 204 is illustrated. Such a storage system may function as a primary or secondary storage system in an asynchronous data replication system. As shown, the storage system 110 includes a storage controller 200, one or more switches 202, and one or more storage drives 204, such as hard disk drives 204 or solid-state drives 204 (such as flash-memory-based drives 204). The storage controller 200 may enable one or more hosts 106 (e.g., open system and/or mainframe servers 106 running operating systems such z/OS, zVM, or the like) to access data in the one or more storage drives 204.

In selected embodiments, the storage controller 200 includes one or more servers 206. The storage controller 200 may also include host adapters 208 and device adapters 210 to connect the storage controller 200 to host devices 106 and storage drives 204, respectively. Multiple servers 206 a, 206 b may provide redundancy to ensure that data is always available to connected hosts 106. Thus, when one server 206 a fails, the other server 206 b may pick up the I/O load of the failed server 206 a to ensure that I/O is able to continue between the hosts 106 and the storage drives 204. This process may be referred to as a “failover.”

In selected embodiments, each server 206 may include one or more processors 212 and memory 214. The memory 214 may include volatile memory (e.g., RAM) as well as non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, hard disks, flash memory, etc.). The volatile and non-volatile memory may, in certain embodiments, store software modules that run on the processor(s) 212 and are used to access data in the storage drives 204. The servers 206 may host at least one instance of these software modules. These software modules may manage all read and write requests to logical volumes in the storage drives 204.

One example of a storage system 110 having an architecture similar to that illustrated in FIG. 2 is the IBM DS8000™ enterprise storage system. The DS8000™ is a high-performance, high-capacity storage controller providing disk storage that is designed to support continuous operations. Nevertheless, the systems and methods disclosed herein are not limited to operation with the IBM DS8000™ enterprise storage system 110, but may operate with any comparable or analogous storage system 110, regardless of the manufacturer, product name, or components or component names associated with the system 110. Furthermore, any storage system that could benefit from one or more embodiments of the invention is deemed to fall within the scope of the invention. Thus, the IBM DS8000™ is presented only by way of example and is not intended to be limiting.

Referring to FIG. 3, as previously mentioned, in z/OS Global Mirror, data is asynchronously mirrored from primary volumes 302 a on a primary storage system 110 a to secondary volumes 302 b on a secondary storage system 110 b in order to maintain two consistent copies of data. The primary and secondary storage systems 110 a, 110 b may be located at different sites, perhaps hundreds or thousands of miles away from one another. In the event the primary storage system 110 a fails, I/O may be redirected to the secondary storage system 110 b, thereby enabling continuous operations.

When updates are received by the primary storage system 110 a from a primary host system 106 a, z/OS Global Mirror groups the updates into record sets and collects these record sets in data structures referred to as sidefiles 306 (collectively referred to herein as a “sidefile queue” 306). These sidefiles 306 are stored in cache 304 (a high-speed form of memory 214) of the primary storage system 110 a. The record sets in these sidefiles 306 are asynchronously mirrored to the secondary storage system 110 b using a data replication module 310 (also known as System Data Mover, or SDM, in the z/OS environment) that is typically hosted on a secondary host system 106 b. This data replication module 310 typically utilizes readers 314 to copy data from the sidefiles 306 to the secondary storage system 110 b. Each reader 314 or group of readers 314 typically copies record sets from a specific sidefile 306 in the primary cache 304 to the secondary storage system 110 b.

Currently, when asynchronously mirroring data from a source volume 302 a to a target volume 302 b, it is very difficult to determine if there are inconsistencies in the mirrored data. When an error such as a No Record Found (NRF) or Invalid Track Format (ITF) error occurs at the target volume 302 b, the mirroring relationship is typically suspended and data in the source volume 302 a is recopied to the target volume 302 b. The mirroring relationship between the source volume 302 a and target volume 302 b may then be reestablished. If an error is detected long after an out-of-sync condition occurs, it may be difficult to diagnose the cause of the error.

Currently, the only option to validate the consistency of mirrored data is to compare, track by track, the source and target volumes 302 a, 302 b. This creates significant overhead and may result in false errors when updates to the target volume 302 b are in flight. Thus, systems and methods are needed to more effectively audit data consistency across source and target volumes 302 a, 302 b in asynchronous data replication environments 300. Further needed are systems and methods to more efficiently correct errors in consistency when discovered.

Referring to FIG. 4, in order to more effectively audit data consistency across source and target volumes 302 a, 302 b, and more efficiently correct errors in consistency when discovered, various modules 400, 402 may be provided in or in association with the data replication module 310. These modules may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. In particular, a data auditing module 400 may be provided to more effectively audit data consistency across source and target volumes 302 a, 302 b. One example of a method that may be executed by the data auditing module 400 will be discussed in association with FIG. 7. An error correction module 402 may be provided to more efficiently correct errors in consistency when such errors are discovered. One example of a method that may be executed by the error correction module 402 will be discussed in association with FIG. 8. Although the modules 400, 402 are shown as sub-modules in the data replication module 310, they are not necessarily part of the data replication module 310, nor are they limited to implementation within the secondary host system 106 b. Thus, the location of the data auditing module 400 and error correction module 402 are provided by way of example and not limitation.

Referring to FIG. 5, as previously mentioned, when updates are received by the primary storage system 110 a from a primary host system 106 a and applied to a source volume 302 a, the updates may be grouped into record sets 500 and placed in sidefiles 306. The data replication module 310 may then asynchronously mirror these record sets 500 to the secondary storage system 110 b so that the data can be applied to the target volume 302 b. As shown, the record sets 500 may be characterized by a type 502, timestamp 504, and data 506 (e.g., a track of data). The type 502 may, in certain embodiments, indicate what is to be done with the data 506 in the record set 500. For example, the type 502 may indicate that the data 506 is to be applied to or written to corresponding data or storage element (e.g., track) on a target volume 302 b. The timestamp 504 may indicate a time the data 506 was written to or read from a source volume 302 a. In certain embodiments, the data replication module 310 may apply record sets 500 to the target volume 302 b in order of their timestamps 504 to maintain data consistency with the source volume 302 a.

Referring to FIG. 6, in certain embodiments in accordance with the invention, a new “write with no data” command may be created that acts as if a storage element (e.g., track) on the source volume 302 a was updated. However, no data may actually be written to the source volume 302 a. Rather the new command may serialize the storage element on the source volume 302 a as if a write occurred and create a record set 500 c in the sidefile queue 306 that contains all of the data 506 c in the storage element at a specified time (as indicated by the timestamp 504 c). FIG. 6 shows a new type 502 c of record set 500 c that may be created and stored in the sidefile queue 306 by the new command. When read by the data replication module 310, the new type 502 c may indicate that the data 506 c in the record set 500 c is not an update to be applied or written to the target volume 302 b. The data replication module 310 may recognize this new type and process a consistency group such that the timestamp 504 c of the record set 500 c is the consistency group cutoff time. This means that all updates (i.e., record sets 500) having a timestamp 504 earlier than the timestamp 504 c will be applied to the source volume 302 a, while not applying record sets 500 having a timestamp 504 later than the timestamp 504 c. This will cause the target volume 302 b to ideally have the same data as the source volume 302 a at the time the new record set 500 c was created on the primary storage system 110 a.

Referring to FIG. 7, one embodiment of a method 700 for auditing data consistency across source and target volumes 302 a, 302 b is illustrated. As shown, the method 700 initially issues 702 the new “write with no data” command discussed in association with FIG. 6 for a first track on the source volume 302 a. This new command may act as if the first track is being updated, while not actually writing any data to the first track. Rather the new command may serialize 704 the track on the source volume 302 a as if a write occurred and create 706 a record set 500 c that contains all of the data 506 c in the track at the time the new command is executed. This record set 500 c may also contain a timestamp 504 c indicating when the new command was executed and a type 502 c that indicates that the data 506 c in the record set 500 c is not an update to be applied to the target volume 302 b.

Once the record set 500 c is generated at step 706, the method 700 places 708 the record set 500 c in the sidefile queue 306. This record set 500 c is then asynchronously mirrored to the secondary storage system 110 b, and more particularly the target volume 302 b, as time and resources allow. Upon receiving the record set 500 c at the target volume 302 b, the method 700 reads 710 and recognizes the record set 500 c as the new type described above, and forms 712 a consistency group at the target volume 302 b. The method 700 then reads 714 the corresponding track on the target volume 302 b and compares 716 this track with the track in the record set 500 c. If the method 700 determines 718 that the tracks do not match or are inconsistent, the method 700 flags an error.

The method 700 then determines 722 whether there are more tracks to be analyzed. If so, the method 700 issues 702 the new “write with no data” command for the next track on the source volume 302 a and the method 700 repeats in the manner previously described. This may occur until all tracks on the source volume 302 a have been compared to all tracks on the target volume 302 b. Alternatively, only tracks of interest may be compared. For example, when an error such as a No Record Found (NRF) or Invalid Track Format (ITF) error occurs, only tracks related to the error in some way may be analyzed using the method 700 of FIG. 7. Once all tracks or tracks of interest have been analyzed, the method 700 ends.

Referring to FIG. 8, one embodiment of a method 800 for correcting data inconsistency across source and target volumes 302 a, 302 b is illustrated. As shown, the method 800 initially determines 802 whether an error has been detected on a target volume 302 b. The error may include data inconsistency (as detected at step 718 of FIG. 7, for example) or an error such as a No Record Found (NRF) or Invalid Track Format (ITF) error that occurs when applying data to the target volume 302 b. In response, the method 800 identifies 804 the target volume 302 b and track on the target volume 302 b associated with the error and audits 806 the source volume 302 a and target volume 302 b for other errors. This audit may occur to the entire volumes 302 a, 302 b or just to areas related to the error or believed to be susceptible to errors. This auditing step 806 may be performed using the method 700 illustrated in FIG. 7.

The target volume 302 b or specific tracks in error on the target volume 302 b may then be marked 808 as “temporarily inconsistent.” This may indicate that some data on the target volume 302 b is not consistent with some data on the source volume 302 a or has been lost for some reason. Marking the target volume 302 b as “temporarily inconsistent” may avoid the need to suspend the mirroring relationship between the source volume 302 a and target volume 302 b, which may be considered a significant outage and trigger reporting requirements (such as government reporting requirements). Instead a target volume 302 b or specific tracks in error on the target volume 302 b may be identified as “temporarily inconsistent” and fixed on the fly without suspending the mirroring relationship. This will enable updates to continue to the target volume 302 b and even possibly to the tracks on the target volume 302 b that were identified as in error.

Once the target volume 302 b or specific tracks in error on the target volume 302 b are marked as “temporarily inconsistent,” the method 800 may issue 810 the new “write with no data” command described in association with FIG. 6 for tracks on the source volume 302 a for which corresponding errors have been found on the target volume 302 b. This will generate record sets 500 c containing data from the source volume 302 a, and associated timestamps 504 indicating when the data was read from the source volume 302 a. These record sets 500 c are placed in the sidefile queue 306 for asynchronous mirroring to the target volume 302 b.

At the target volume 302 b, record sets 500 in the sidefile queue 306 may be applied to the target volume 302 b in timestamp order. When a record set 500 c is encountered at the target volume 302 b that was generated by the new “write with no data” command, the method 800 applies 812 a consistency group to the target volume 302 b. This will fix the track associated with the new record set 500 c. This process of reading the new record sets 500 c from the sidefile queue 306 and applying a consistency group is repeated until all tracks in error have been fixed on the target volume 302 b. Once all errors have been fixed, the method 800 marks 814 the target volume 302 b or tracks previously in error (but since fixed) on the target volume 302 b as “duplex,” which indicates that data on the source volume 302 a and target volume 302 b is known or believed to be in a consistent state.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. Other implementations may not require all of the disclosed steps to achieve the desired functionality. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for auditing data consistency in an asynchronous data replication environment, the method comprising: executing, at a primary storage system, a “write with no data” command that performs functions associated with a conventional write command but writes no data to a source volume, the “write with no data” command performing the following: serializing a source data track; and creating a record set that contains a copy of data in the source data track, a timestamp indicating when the source data track was copied, and a command type indicating that the copy in the record set is not to be applied to a corresponding target data track of a target volume; replicating the record set from the primary storage system, hosting the source volume, to a secondary storage system, hosting the target volume; applying, to the target data track, all updates received for the target data track with timing prior to the timestamp; reading the target data track at the secondary storage system after the updates have been applied; comparing the target data track to the source data track; and recording an error if the target data track does not match the source data track.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein replicating the record set from the primary storage system comprises placing the record set in a sidefile at the primary storage system.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the sidefile contains data for replication from the primary storage system to the secondary storage system.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after applying all the updates received for the target data track, creating a consistency group.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein replicating comprises asynchronously replicating.
 6. A computer program product for auditing data consistency in an asynchronous data replication environment, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied therein, the computer-usable program code configured to perform the following when executed by at least one processor: execute, at a primary storage system, a “write with no data” command that performs functions associated with a conventional write command but writes no data to a source volume, the “write with no data” command performing the following: serializing a source data track; and creating a record set that contains a copy of data in the source data track, a timestamp indicating when the source data track was copied, and a command type indicating that the copy in the record set is not to be applied to a corresponding target data track of a target volume; replicate the record set from the primary storage system, hosting the source volume, to a secondary storage system, hosting the target volume; apply, to the corresponding target data track, all updates received for the target data track with timing prior to the timestamp; reading the target data track at the secondary storage system after the updates have been applied; comparing the target data track to the source data track; and recording an error if the target data track does not match the source data track.
 7. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein replicating the record set from the primary storage system comprises placing the record set in a sidefile at the primary storage system.
 8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the sidefile contains data for replication from the primary storage system to the secondary storage system.
 9. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the computer-usable program code is further configured to, after applying all the updates received for the target data track, create a consistency group.
 10. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein replicating comprises asynchronously replicating.
 11. A system for auditing data consistency in an asynchronous data replication environment, the system comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory device operably coupled to the at least one processor and storing instructions for execution on the at least one processor, the instructions causing the at least one processor to: execute, at a primary storage system, a “write with no data” command that performs functions associated with a conventional write command but writes no data to a source volume, the “write with no data” command performing the following: serialize a source data track; and create a record set that contains a copy of data in the source data track, a timestamp indicating when the source data track was copied, and a command type indicating that the copy in the record set is not to be applied to a corresponding target data track of a target volume; replicate the record set from the primary storage system, hosting the source volume, to a secondary storage system, hosting the target volume; apply, to the corresponding target data track all updates received for the target data track with timing prior to the timestamp; read the target data track at the secondary storage system after the updates have been applied; compare the target data track to the source data track; and record an error if the target data track does not match the source data track.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein replicating the record set from the primary storage system comprises placing the record set in a sidefile at the primary storage system.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the sidefile contains data for replication from the primary storage system to the secondary storage system.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to, after applying all the updates received for the target data track, create a consistency group. 